Various electrical/fiberoptic connectors are known for use in the telecommunications industry to transmit voice, data and video signals. FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art environment 10 in which a hub 12 is electrically coupled to a workstation 14 by conventional copper wiring, i.e., unshielded twisted pair. A disadvantage in this environment is that copper is distance limited in that it transmits signals a maximum distance of about 90–100 meters. Oftentimes the physical layout of the environment in which hubs and workstations are to be coupled requires signals to be propagated over greater distances than copper can accommodate. One way to propagate signals over greater distances is to use fiber optic cable which can propagate signals a distance of about 2 kilometers or more using either multimode or single mode optical fiber. FIG. 2 illustrates an extended environment in which fiber optic cable is used. In order to use both copper and fiber, converters must be used to convert a signal into the proper format for the transmission media, i.e. copper or fiber. In this extended environment 16, a hub 18 is electrically coupled to a media converter 20 by standard copper wiring such as an RJ45 patch cable. A workstation 22 is electrically coupled to another media converter 20 also by standard copper. The two media converters 20 are optically coupled together by fiber optic cable. This allows the hub 18 and workstation 22 to be separated by greater distances than in the environment shown in FIG. 1.
For environments where multiple hubs and/or workstations may be used, the converters 20 are generally multiport media converters that accept multiple terminations to fiber and twisted pair. The media converters 20 have ports of a first type to transmit and receive signals over twisted pair and ports of a second type to transmit and receive signals over fiber. Electronics within the media converter convert signals from one format to another. In the converter, a twisted pair port is electrically coupled to a fiber port and that pair is given a unique number. From a troubleshooting perspective it is important to be able to monitor port activity as well as its integrity, for example, is the port properly terminated.
One way of providing such monitoring is to provide indicators such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) at each port to indicate if there is activity at that port and whether the port is properly terminated. For example, in a chassis that holds sixteen port pairs, a total of 64 or more LEDs are needed. Having so many LEDs consumes valuable real estate as well as power. In addition, the user has to look at the indicators at each of the individual ports which makes troubleshooting difficult and burdensome. In addition, because the activity indicators for the copper ports and optic ports are physically located at their respective port, a troubleshooter would have to look at the indicators at a copper port and then look at the indicator at the fiber port to which that copper port is coupled.
It is thus desirable to provide a simple, easy to use monitor that utilizes a small number of indicators, is low on power consumption and has a small footprint. In addition, it is desirable to provide a monitor that centrally locates the indicators so that activity and integrity of any port can be monitored from a central location. In addition, it is desirable to place the activity indicator for each port of a port pair at the same location.